I can only feel great bitterness towards our country, unable to hold on to its great patrons or to put its private foundations on solid footing.

It's quite a loss, not only for the French, but for all of us who would eventually have gone to see the new museum. Pinault will reportedly do a show at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, but he will have to split up his collection among several smaller museums across Europe.

UPDATE:It is now being reported that the French government, through Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, has offered Pinault the exhibition space in the Palais de Tokyo, as a way to keep some of the collection at least temporarily in France. No word yet from Pinault.